Can’t tell you how many times I’ve quit Boarstone early because I was bored.
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As a sometimes fix gear rider I agree about those workouts being too busy for anything but erg mode.
Part of the nice part about a fixie is how mindless it is, your cadence changes via the terrain, but you’re certainly not thinking about it. On a dumb trainer or non erg mode, those workouts become more mentally exhausting in try to match the power than they should.
Crazy busy! Motivation is a funny thing. In the past I used Erg and the busy ones do make the time go faster. These days I do aerobic endurance rides outside as much as possible, and when forced inside I’ve given up on Erg and just put it into resistance mode and watch a race on TV. My next step for indoors is to really simulate outside and use RGT/Zwift/whatever’s physics engine with Kickr in sim mode.
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I regularly do 3 hour (workout) rides on Zwift, with it just set to 73% and just ride, and get the route experiance, TR often say that they don’t do the entertainment, you should bring your own
Only thing I think about the Busy rides is how much it clogs up the workout search (and adds to the number of workouts in the library)
Collins = Endurance - 1hr 15 - 58 TSS - IF 00.68
Collins-1 = Endurance - 1hr 15 - 47 TSS - IF 00.61 (So Collins with the intensity reduced)
Colosseum -1 = Endurance - 1hr 15 - 59 TSS - IF 00.69 (So same trainin as Collins)
Colosseum -2 = Endurance - 1hr 15 - 59 TSS - IF 00.69 (So Colosseum-1 with training intensity reduced, same training as Collins-1)
Cumberland-3 = Endurance = 1hr 15 - 61 TSS - IF 00.71 (So same training as Colosseum -1 & Collins … maybe 1% more difficulty)
I ride rollers, and actually cherry pick these workouts to ride in one gear for the entirety of the workout. Only hit target power by mixing up the cadence. It’s not as easy as I thought to get through something like Baxter on one gear and having to go from 60rpm to 110rpm and everything in between.
Are these power changes necessary? No, I agree, they are solely to make the workout more “interesting”. But, I think they accomplish that. I either ride at a constant power for the whole workout and zone out to Netflix, or have to focus on my cadence to hit power targets and can’t zone out quite as much. Just depends what mood I’m in.
P.S.- for an added bonus- if I’m relegated indoors I’ll do 30-60 mins steady power (~60%), then mix in an 30-90 minutes of a workout like the one you have above, and then do 30-60 more at 60%. It’s a really effective (IMO) Z2 workout.
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I like these because it’s easier seeing “90 seconds to go” compared to “28min to go” on the clock.
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I enjoy it. It takes performing a workout that otherwise is mind numbing and makes it interesting.
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This workout looks brilliant, exactly the sort of thing I love to keep the tedium at bay indoors!
I noticed a Dylan video slating Zwift workouts before but they have loads of quirky workouts that were fun enough to keep me coming back to the trainer when otherwise I just wouldn’t have had the motivation.
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Ive actually created several of my own “Baxter” workouts of multiple lengths and intensities. It helps with boredom and it feels more like riding outside. I’m always begging TR to create more of them because there are so few in the catalogue.
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I’m of the KISS approach to workouts. None of this pissing around with tiny changes to power output etc. I have about three basic workouts on the go at any time. Long endurance, threshold, VO2 max.
There are plenty of straight line options - I much prefer the staggered ones like this in ERG and avoid the flat power options. 2.5k workouts, plenty of options
I’m on a dumb trainer and find these workouts very nice. I approach it with the same gear through out. I believe it helps emulate mtb trails a lot where occasionally (like unfamiliar trails) i get caught without shifting. so wide range of pedal cadence and how that feels at certain watts outside is very helpful to me.
only complaint i have is i’m always watching tv during these rides and the constant attention required on a dumb trainer can be annoying. but in the end, its just an endurance ride. if i miss a few TSS or go high a few TSS isn’t any big deal at all…
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